Even since iOS 8 was launched, iPhone users have had good reason to bring out their expensive wines and rejoice. Of all the nifty tweaks made to the operating system, the one that has everyone shouting “Hurrah!” is accessibility to third party keyboards. With Apple loosening the reins a bit, written conversations (or ‘typed’, to be more specific) are geared to become quicker, faster, and certainly more interesting.
So, shun aside envy of Android users and get yourself one of these (or all, if you please) alternate keyboards that people are downloading from the App Store at lightning speed. Beginning with …
Swype
Android users would be quick to recognize Nuance’s Swype – probably one of the most popular alternate keyboards out there. In fact, jabs on how iPhone users were still typing when the rest of the world had graduated to ‘Swype-ing’ were too frequent for our comfort!
Well, not anymore. We’re at par now and enjoy running our fingers over the keyboard and watching words appear like magic on the screen. It’s really, really, REALLY intuitive and makes typing, especially long messages, a whole lot faster. Besides, if you’re the kind that likes to use the phone with one hand, swiping is undoubtedly more efficient. After all, why write when you can ‘Swype’?
SwiftKey
Yet another favorite with Android users, SwiftKey vies with Swype for top position. While there is some overlap in both the keyboards, there are some outstanding features in SwiftKey. For instance, it has the ability to support two languages simultaneously. Also, by analyzing data from your Facebook, Twitter, and Gmail accounts, it is able to accurately predict what you’re going to type.
Emoji++
If funny faces form a large part of your written communication, the Emoji++ keyboard is a must have for you. Frequent emoji users must find a standard keyboard frustrating what with having to swipe through page after page to find the emoticon you’re looking for. All emojis are compiled into a single collection and you even have the option to ‘favorite’ the funny face of your choice! Not bad at all.
Minuum
Minuum offers all the features you can expect from a standard keyboard – smart word suggestions, multiple language support, and themes. However, its USP is the cute and super-small design, which is a lot more efficient than you would imagine it to be. A swipe down reveals the mini keyboard which looks impossible to type on. However, once you get the hang of it, Minuum is quite simple to use. It does need some getting used to, but once that happens, sending emails, messaging and working on documents becomes a breeze.
